Coat hanger



P. J. WHITE March 20, 1956 COAT HANGER Filed March 1'7, 1953 an WA 0 m J E NJ Wm N a" W/ mm P l l I l I l l I I l llll/ III] w an.

United States Patent COAT HANGER Patrick Joseph White, Mamaroneck, N. Y.

Application March 17, 1953, Serial No. 342,820

3 Claims. (Cl. 223-89) This invention relates to coat hangers, and more particularly to an adjustable coat hanger which can be set to properly hang coats of different sizes.

Ordinarily, coat hangers are made in one or two sizes, sixteen or eighteen inches in width, and these sizes do not properly support the larger sized coats, that is, the hanger does not extend from shoulder to shoulder whe the coat is placed on it. When a coat is thus improperly supported, it retains its shape little better than if it were hung without a hanger. To overcome this disadvantage of coat hangers as now made, I propose to construct the hanger of two telescoping sections and provide means for readily adjusting it for the reception of coats of different sizes.

I am aware that adjustable coat hangers have been previously proposed. The adjustable coat hangers of prior proposals have, however, in most instances, been too complicated and have not gone into use. A coat hanger should be of simple construction and inexpensive to manufacture. They are frequently used by tailors and cleaning establishments as an advertising medium and are given to the customers. Therefore, an adjustable coat hanger that can be manufactured for not much more than the cost of the ordinary wire or wooden coat hanger is desired.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a coat hanger which consists of only six principal parts, including the cross member for the support of the trousers. The curved support which receives the coat and this cross member for the trousers are each formed of two members, one of which telescopes into the other. I also provide the hook at the center by means of which the hanger is suspended from a clothes pole or from a wall hook. Within the telescoping hanger members I provide a gear on the lower end of the hook. The two hanger members are provided with teeth within which this gear meshes, and these teeth engage the gear at opposite points. Thus, when the gear is rotated by turning the hook, one of the members will move in one direction and the other will move in the opposite direction, to either increase or decrease the size of the hanger.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown one embodimeut of the invention. In this showing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the hanger, parts being shown in section, and the hanger being shown extended in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, parts being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a detailed, sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a similar view on line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the coat supporting member.

Referring to the drawing, the coat supporting member is formed of two parts 1 and 2, one of which telescopes within the other. These parts can be formed of a suitable metal, such as aluminum, or of a suitable plastic material. As shown, each part extends from one side of the hanger to a point adjacent the other'side. Thus,

the outer member 1 has its end 3 adjacent one side and extends in a curvature 4 of substantially large radius to the other end 5, which, as shown, is curved on a smaller radius. Similarly, the inner member 2 extends from its end 6 through a portion 7 curved on the larger radius to an end portion 8, similar to the end portion 5 of the other section.

The construction of the members 1 and 2 is shown in detail .in Figs. 3 and 4. Although this detailed construction is not essential and I may employ any form in which the member 2 is received in the member 1, and in which it is freely movable in the member 1, I employ substantially inverted U-shaped members. Thus the member 1 consists of a relatively fiat top portion 9 connected to sides 10 by rounded corners 11. An inwardly extending flange 12 is provided at the lower end of each side. Similarly member 2 is formed with a relatively flat top 13 connected to sides 14 by rounded corners 15. The lower ends of the sides 14 have inwardly extending flanges 16 which are received within the flanges l2. Flange 12 prevents the inner member 2 from becoming displaced. Flange 16 prevents the parts from binding when the hanger is adjusted. The dimensions of this member are such that it fits within the member 1 rather snugly but not too tight to permit relative movement of the two to adjust the hanger from the size shown in full lines in Fig. 1 to the size shown in dotted lines. The ends 5 and 8 of the members 1 and 2 are connected by a telescoping cross bar which serves as a trousers support. As shown, a tube 17 is connected to end 5 by a pin 18. This tube receives a tube or rod 19 which is connected to the end 8 by pin 20.

The means for adjusting the size of the hanger is advantageously assembled with, or as part of the book, by means of which the hanger is placed on a support. As shown, a hook 21, arranged at the center of the hanger, is provided with a disc or collar 22 which engages the top 9 of the outer member. The shank 23 of the hook passes through registering slots 24 in the members 1 and 2. A gear or pinion 25 is mounted on the hook and it is retained in position by the headed end 26 of the shank. Gear 25 engages teeth formed by spaced openings elongated in the front leg 10 of the outer member 1 and the rear leg 14 of the inner member 2. As shown, elongated openings 27 of the outer member extend from a point just beyond the center of the hanger to the right to a point just beyond the end of the slots 24 when the hanger is retracted (see Fig. 2). Likewise, elongated openings 28 in the rear leg 14 of inner member 2 extend from a point just beyond center toward the left to a point beyond the end of the slots 24.

The hanger is thus extended or retracted by rotating the hook 21. Thus, with the parts as shown in Fig. 2, the hook is turned clockwise. The gear 24, engaging the elongated openings 27 at the bottom of the view, causes the outer member 1 to move to the left to extend the hanger. Likewise, the gear engaging teeth 28 at the top of the view causes the inner member to move a corresponding distance to the right to extend the hanger. The hanger is, of course, retracted by turning the hook in the opposite direction. While the elongated openings 27 and 28 are eachv arranged on a curve, I have found that this curve, deviating so slightly from a straight line, does not prevent free operation of the gear to extend and retract the hanger. Nor does the resulting downward movement of the ends cause any binding of the telescoping members 17 and 19.

With the hook 21 initially positioned in the center of the hanger, and the gear 25 in mesh with elongated openings 27 and 28, the hook will remain at the center of the hanger at all times. In some prior extendable hangers, it was sometimes diificult to retain the hook at the center of the hanger when an adjustment was made.

To permit the gear 25 to engage elongated openings 27, the front leg 14 of the inner member 2 is provided with a slot 29 through which the gear passes (see Fig. 3). This slot extends for a distance slightly greater than the space over which the teeth extend. As shown in Fig. 3, the slots 24 and the hook are arranged slightly off center in the top portions 9 and 13 of the members 1 and 2. This is because at the front the gear teeth must mesh with elongated openings 27 in the outer member whereas at the rear, they mesh with elongated openings 28 in the inner member. The diameter of the gear is thus the width of the inner member 2 plus the thickness of the outer member. The center of the shank is placed one-half this distance from the front of the hanger.

The operation of the device and the advantages of the construction will be apparent from the foregoing description. It provides a much more satisfactory coat hanger than the devices in current use by permitting adjustment of the size of the hanger to the width of the coat from shoulder to shoulder. A coat hung on a proper size coat hanger will retain its shape longer than one that is hung improperly on a coat hanger that does not fit it. The ease of adjustment, by merely turning the hook 21, and the simplicity of construction are other important features of the invention. The provision of a moving part, the hook 21, serves to attract attention and is of advantage if the coat hanger is used for advertising purpose by tailors, clothiers and others. By making the hanger of metal or some suitable plastic, a strong durable hanger is obtained which is also light, and therefore, does not increase the load on the clothes-pole of a closet over that resulting from the use of wooden or wire hangers of the present construction.

I claim:

1. An extendable coat hanger comprising a pair of curved shoulder supporting members, each of said members forming one-half of the hanger and extending from one side to slightly beyondthe center of the hanger and overlapping a portion of the other member, said members being of inverted U-shaped cross-section, the upper surfaces of said members being provided with registering openings at the center of the hanger, a supporting hook extending through said openings, a gear carried by the hook and disposed within the. overlapping portions of the U-shaped members, said members being provided with registering elongatedopenings; in their overlapping portions, the openings in one of said members being formed in the front of said member and the openings in the other member being formed in the rear of said member, the inner one of said members being provided with a slot registering with the elongated openings in the outer memher. the gear meshing with the elongated openings in said members to move the members in opposite directions when the hook and gear are rotated to extend or retract the hanger.

2. A hanger constructed in accordance with claim 1 in which the inverted U-shaped supporting members are provided with inwardly extending flanges at their lower ends to prevent the inner member from being displaced.

3. A hanger constructed in accordance with claim l wherein the hook is maintained at the center of the hanger by the meshing of the teeth of the gear and the elongated openings formed in the supporting members.

References Citcdin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

